


A Theoretical Novelty

by Lady_Eowyn_of_Ithilien



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alchemy, F/M, First Love, Loss of Virginity, Mutual Pining, Tattoos, Young!Royai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-06-29 07:07:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15724434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Eowyn_of_Ithilien/pseuds/Lady_Eowyn_of_Ithilien
Summary: Orphaned and penniless at sixteen, Riza Hawkeye finds her future closely intertwined with that of her father’s apprentice, Roy Mustang.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A Theoretical Novelty  
> A move in the opening of chess that has not been played before.
> 
> The dialogue in the first section of the first chapter was pulled directly from the manga, trademarked by Hiromi Arakawa.

Chapter One

Her father’s headstone was white and austere, a fitting monument to a stern and unforgiving man. She felt numb; she wasn’t sure if it was from shock, from apathy, or from the biting December cold. Staring at the words etched into the headstone, she apologized, “I’m sorry, Mister Mustang, for having to rely on you to help me with the arrangements for my father’s funeral.”

“It was nothing. He was my mentor; I would do anything for him.” His deep voice warmed some of the icy tension in her chest. “Do you have any other family?”

She shook her head, staring down at the headstone. While he lived, her father had been silent as the grave about his or her mother’s families. She doubted his headstone would yield any new information. “My mother died a long time ago,” she explained. “Both my mother and father were estranged from their families. They never told me anything about my relatives.”

“All right,” he said, reaching into his pocket. She looked up at him as he handed her his card. His dark eyes softened as he looked at her, “But if you ever need any help – anything at all – don’t hesitate to contact me at Military HQ. I’ll most likely stay in the military for the rest of my life.”

She accepted the card scanning it curiously. The Green Dragon of Amestris took up most of the left side of the card with the words Amestris State Military occupying two lines underneath the symbol. The right side of the card contained four lines of text with Mister Mustang’s name and rank as well as an address and phone number in East City.

“For the rest of your life?” she wondered.

At his noise of agreement, she glanced up at him worriedly.

“Please don’t get killed!” she exclaimed.

He paled, muttering something under his breath that sounded like Don’t jinx me. When he spoke again, his dark eyes held a pensive far away look. “I can’t promise that. In this profession you never know when you’ll wind up dead in a ditch somewhere like a piece of garbage. But if I can help strengthen the foundation of this country and protect its people with my hands that would make me happy.”

She gazed up at him feeling the icy tension in her chest continue to unravel at his kindhearted honesty.

“That’s the reason I studied alchemy,” he continued. “But in the end my master didn’t teach me his secrets.” Mister Mustang rubbed a hand behind his head and looked at her askance with an embarrassed expression. “Sorry, I must be boring you with my naïve dreams.”

“Not at all,” she replied with a smile. “I think it’s a wonderful dream. My father didn’t take his secrets to the grave. He told me that he hid them in a code that’s indecipherable to the average alchemist.”

Mister Mustang’s eyes widened as he turned to her. “So the master wrote his secrets down after all.”

She averted her eyes from his hopeful gaze and looked down at her father’s headstone. When her father had come to her last year with his request, she’d been honored to be chosen to safeguard his legacy. She saw now that she’d been naïve. Her father had only ever seen her as a child, a housekeeper, a nursemaid, and finally a piece of parchment. She couldn’t even see the tattoo mottling her back in black and red ink with her own eyes. Her father no doubt didn’t believe her worthy of seeing his secrets, his life’s work. She could only see a reflection in the mirror.

“No,” she replied finally. “Not on paper anyway. He said that he couldn’t risk the destruction of his life’s work or have it fall into the wrong hands.”

“So how did he record his legacy?” Mister Mustang wondered.

“Mister Mustang. That dream, can I trust you with my back so that I can help make it come true?”

xxx

Her fingers were clumsy on the round buttons of her blouse. She could hear Mister Mustang’s sharp inhale of breath as the blouse slid off her shoulders so the flame alchemy cipher tattooed into her back could be revealed. As the blouse pooled at her feet, she unsnapped her brassiere and let it fall to the floor. She held her trembling arms in front of her bare breasts to give herself some little pretense of modesty. Her cheeks burned with shame as she stood topless in front of Mister Mustang, her father’s apprentice.

She’d thought him impossibly handsome and mature when he showed up at the house all those years ago to be her father’s apprentice. He’d been a worldly fourteen-year-old boy with clever dark eyes and a confident smile. She’d been a shy and tomboyish ten-year-old girl. Over the three years that he’d studied under her father Mister Mustang had only grown more handsome and self-assured. She’d been a gangly thirteen-year-old when he left to join the Military Academy.

She heard the floorboards creak behind her as he stepped closer. She heard a rustling of fabric and glanced over her shoulder as he held out his coat for her. Covering her breasts with one arm, she took his coat in shaking hands and clutched it to her chest.

“Riza,” the sound of her name on his lips made her shiver. He rasped out, “When did your father…”

She was proud she was able to keep her voice steady. “This time last year.”

“How could he…”

She averted her eyes to the ground. “It’s ugly, but I’m no great beauty, so…”

Mister Mustang interrupted her decisively, “Riza, you’ve grown into a beautiful woman regardless of the alchemic cipher on your back.”

Riza’s cheeks burned as she glanced back to see him studying her intently. She felt like a lovesick thirteen-year-old girl again. Clearing her throat, she changed the subject to hide her embarrassment. “Can you decipher it, Mister Mustang?”

“Call me Roy,” was his answer.

“Roy,” she tried. His name felt foreign on her tongue.

He didn’t touch her, but she could still feel the intensity of his gaze burning into her skin. “It’s extremely complex, so it’ll take awhile. If I copied it down on paper you wouldn’t have to…”

She shook her head. “My father didn’t want this transcribed on paper. You’ll have to learn his secrets from my back.”

xxx

The next three days passed quickly as they fell into a routine. Mister Mustang, who had become an early riser because of his military training, would go out on a run before the sun had risen. By the time he returned, Riza would have breakfast and coffee ready. The rest of the days were spent studying the tattoo.

Her father’s study was the designated location for this particular task. They’d carried the green velvet settee from the front parlor for her to stretch out on while Roy decoded the tattoo on her back.

The December chill seemed to permeate every room in her father’s drafty old house. Roy kept a fire going in the hearth of her father’s study so that they would be comfortable while he worked to decode the cipher on her back. Setting the fire in the health had even become part of their daily routine. After she’d told Roy how she’d seen her father light the logs using flame alchemy with the candle on his desk as the catalyst, Roy had been eager to try it out himself. Thus far, it’d been an exercise in futility after which Roy resorted to tossing a match onto the kindling under the stacked logs.

Roy stood with his back to her, glaring at the fire burning merrily in the hearth like it had personally offended him. Riza grinned over at him as she pulled her cream colored knit sweater over her head.

“Don’t be discouraged,” she said blithely as she tugged the sleeves back up to her shoulders to cover her chest to help preserve her modesty. “It took my father ten years to develop flame alchemy. You can’t expect to learn it overnight.

Roy ran his hands through his hair. “This is impossible. It’s not flame alchemy; it’s air alchemy. The flame is only the catalyst of the reaction. The important part is controlling the concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air to feed or smoother the flame.”

“It’ll take time and practice, like anything else,” Riza said as she walked over to the settee in the middle of the room. She tiptoed around the towering pile of alchemy, chemistry, and physics textbooks that Roy had spread out around the couch. “Well I’m ready when you’re ready.”

Roy put his hands on his hips and stared at the fire. “I think I’m going to put the candle in the fireplace tomorrow. I think it’s just too advanced of a maneuver for me to control the path of the flame all the way from the desk to the fireplace. Or maybe the problem is with my transmutation circle.”

Riza stretched out on her belly on the settee and opened her book, absentmindedly moving the ancient Aerugian to Amestrian dictionary within reach. The green velvet felt luxurious against the bare skin of her stomach. The soft wool of her sweater was warm against her shoulders and arms and bare breasts. Sunlight spilled into the room, illuminating the cover of Valerius’s poems that she’d brought to pass the time.

Roy chuckled as he walked over to the settee. “You look like a sunbather on the beaches of Aerugo, basking topless in a warm patch of sun.”

Riza tried to hide her blush, quipping, “Aerugian women sunbathe topless?”

Roy shrugged as he sat down in front of her. Resting his elbow on his knee, he gazed up at her with a crooked smile. “So I’ve heard.”

The next hours passed at a slow crawl. She had trouble concentrating on reading her book of poems – the fact they were in ancient Aerugian certainly didn’t help matters. Roy’s breath on her skin as he studied the words inked on her left shoulder blade or his fingers tracing over the symbols on the small of her back drove her to distraction.

She turned the page to her favorite poem. She practically knew it by heart, so it was very easy to translate.

 

"Let us live, my Clodia, let us love,

and all the words of the old, and so moral,

may they be worth less than nothing to us!

Suns may set, and suns may rise again:

but when our brief light has set,

night is one long everlasting sleep.

 

Give me a thousand kisses, a hundred more,

another thousand, and another hundred,

and, when we’ve counted up the many thousands,

confuse them so as not to know them all,

so that no enemy may cast an evil eye,

by knowing that there were so many kisses.

 

“Riza,” came Roy’s voice by her hip.

Blushing, she turned to look at him.  

He put his elbow on the settee and rested his head on his hand. His eyes were impossibly dark as he looked up at her. She blushed and tried to ignore how his eyes flickered to her lips before moving back to her eyes. Licking his lips, he said huskily, “Your skirt is hiding the bottom of the tattoo. May I…”

“Yes,” she whispered.

His hands on her skin burned like a brand as he smoothed them from her waist down to the zipper at the small of her back. The sound of the zipper was impossibly loud in the room; the only other sound was the gentle crackling of the fire in the hearth and the soft sound of their breaths.

Riza could feel her heart pounding in her ears as he folded back the top of her skirt to better study the tattoo. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing. She wouldn’t let him know how much he affected her.  

xxx

During Roy Mustang’s stay at her father’s house, the library became her refuge. When she became too overcome by the interest flickering in his dark eyes, the seductive tone of his voice, or his fingers against the lines of her tattoo, she would disappear into the library. She would never interfere with his time studying her tattoo, but when they decided to take a long break in the afternoon or evening she would need a break from him as well. She needed to be alone to compose herself again.

Even in her dreams he haunted her. During the day, she lay before him on the settee with his breath on her shoulders and his fingers on her back as he studied the tattoo. In her dreams, she laid under him on the settee with his mouth moving over hers and his hands caressing every inch of her skin.

As soon as Roy was able to expertly practice her father’s flame alchemy, he would be leaving again for East City. She was already too attached to him. If she let herself fall into Roy Mustang’s dark eyes, broad chest, or muscular arms, she would lose herself. She’d been half in love with him since she was a girl. If she became further entangled with him the only thing that she could expect from him was heartbreak.

She was a boyish and reserved country girl. A man like him didn’t fall in love with girl like her. A man like Roy Mustang would fall in love with a glamorous and vivacious city girl.

“Here you are. Dinner’s almost ready if you’re hungry.”

She looked up at him from where she sat against one of the bookcases at the back of the library. She had a dense Drachman novel open in her lap.

“How many languages can you read?” Roy wondered as he looked down at the pages. “I’ve seen you reading ancient and modern Aerugian, Cretan, Xingese, and now Drachman. You’re really impressive.”

Riza shrugged as she creased the corner of the page and closed the book. “I enjoy languages,” she explained, running her fingers over the worn cover with a small smile. “My mother studied comparative literature at the Scholar’s Academy, where she received her teaching certificate. These are her books. She left little annotations and notes in the margins. When I read them, I feel closer to her. She was died when I was very young. I don’t have many memories of her except for what I can imagine she was like from her books.”  

Roy leaned back against the bookshelf across from her with his hands in his pockets. He looked around the library and mused, “It’s nice that you have something to remember her by. My parents died suddenly when I was very young child. I have keepsakes and pictures of them, but nothing that reflects their personalities like these books must for you mother.”

Riza pulled her knees up to her chest and looked up at him. “The majority of the books are my father’s: textbooks, treatises, studies on chemistry and physics and mathematics. I don’t have much interest in those. Would you like them?”

Roy raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you say that your father’s solicitor wanted you to wait until he’d notified all of the interested parties before you started distributing or selling your father’s belongings?”

She shrugged. “You’re correct of course. However, the only other people that need to be notified are my father’s creditors. Father left all of his assets - what little there is – to me. So the books are mine to do with as I wish. I’m planning to give some to the parish library and I’d like you to have his alchemy texts.”

Roy’s eyes widened. “Your father had an impressive collection, there’s even some first editions among his texts. You could make a fortune selling your father’s alchemy texts to the state military. That could help you settle his debts.”

Riza laughed out loud. “Father would roll over in his grave! I’m certain he’d come haunt me if I did something like that. It’s bad enough that I’ve shared the secrets of his most dangerous alchemy to a soon to be dog of the military.”

Roy snorted. “That assumes that I’ll pass the state alchemy exam. There’s a slim chance of that. The youngest man to ever pass the state alchemy exam was thirty-two. I doubt the top brass will even consider passing a twenty year old kid fresh out of the military academy.”

“Then you’ll just have to be so impressive that they can’t say no,” she grinned.

“Easier said than done.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orphaned and penniless at sixteen, Riza Hawkeye finds her future closely intertwined with that of her father’s apprentice, Roy Mustang.

Chapter Two

She stacked up the logs and placed the kindling underneath in the living room hearth. Pulling the woolen blanket tighter around herself, she climbed back into the high back chair closest to the fireplace. Roy sat cross-legged on the couch on the other side of the living room.

This had become their nightly ritual. Over the past three weeks, the candle that Roy used to start the alchemic reaction moved farther and farther away from the fireplace. During the first week it burned safely within the fireplace. After three days of successfully lighting the logs using flame alchemy, Roy had felt comfortable moving the candle outside of the fireplace during the second week. Now he had become bold. The candle rested by his elbow on the end table next to the couch on the other side of the room where Roy sat.  

“Okay, here goes,” Roy muttered to himself as he put his hand to the alchemic array that he’d chalked onto the end table at his side.

There was a loud snap as the candle flickered and a spark danced across the room and into the fireplace. The ensuing flames consumed all the kindling. The logs were caught up quickly in the conflagration. One of the dry logs let out a loud crack and part of it rolled out of the fireplace and onto the living room floor in front of the chair where she sat huddled under a blanket. She only had a second to gasp out in surprise before the entire fire was suddenly snuffed out.

“Damn it,” he cursed.

Riza pulled her knees up to her chest as she shivered under her blanket from where she sat on the chair closest to the fireplace. “Why did you smother the entire fire?” she wondered. “You seemed to have better control over the flames during the last couple nights.”

Roy groaned as he rose from the couch. He kicked the log that had fallen in front of her chair back into the fireplace. As he stacked fresh logs, fresh kindling, and set up another small candle, he replied, “When that log rolled out by your chair, I panicked and smothered everything.” 

Riza spoke over her chattering teeth. “Then you need to better hone your focus, Roy. You shouldn’t let something like that distract you.”

His dark eyes softened as he glanced over at her. “You’re shivering. We can try this again tomorrow. I can light it the old fashioned way rather than using these fancy alchemic pyrotechnics. They generate more light than heat.”

She shook her head stubbornly. “I’m fine, Roy. You’re too close to stop now. You have to head back to East City the day after tomorrow.”

As he sat down on the couch, he suggested. “Sit with me. You’ll be farther from the fireplace, but we can huddle together for warmth instead.”

He made the same requests on most evenings; however, this was the first evening when she’d actually been in danger from a falling log. Maybe he had a point. She huffed before dropping her feet onto the floor and standing up. She dragged the chair farther away from the fireplace and walked over to the couch where he sat.

He shifted back against the couch and she let him pull her into his lap. His chest was warm against her back and her head rested comfortably against his shoulder. His muscular arms were a comfortable weight around her waist and his thighs were her armrest.

She shivered as he rested his chin against the top of her head and let out a contented sigh. “I feel better practicing this if I know you’re safe here with me.”

He moved his left hand to the alchemic array chalked into the table next to them again and Riza felt the familiar heady cracking of an alchemic reaction before a loud snap filled the air and the flame at the tip of the candle danced and twirled around the kindling. After the kindling caught, it blossomed into a sustained flame under the stacked logs. The fire danced and twirled around the logs.

Riza gasped as before her eyes the flames took the shape of a miniature dragon and flew out of the fireplace to soar above them. The dragon grew in size as it flew out of the fireplace. It circled in the air above them and exhaled flames from its mouth. The dragon’s breath formed into a phoenix. After circling the living room above them one last time, the dragon and phoenix fizzled out like fireworks.

The logs in the fireplace crackled peacefully as Roy ended the transmutation. As Riza looked up at him in wonder, she was surprised to see him staring down at her rather than at the fireplace. His dark eyes smoldered as he shifted her in his arms and captured her lips in a kiss. She gasped out in surprise and he took that opportunity to deepen the kiss.      

One of his hands rested gently at the nape of her neck as he tilted her head back slightly so that he could reposition them into a more comfortable position. She moaned as his tongue darted into her mouth tangling with hers. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, but Roy didn’t seem to mind her inexperience.

“I’ve wanted to do this for weeks,” Roy breathed between kisses.

Tangling her hands in his dark hair, she lost herself in the taste of his lips and the warmth of his body against hers. She was completely consumed by the inferno of his passion. He tugged her sweater over her head and made quick work of her brassiere as he shifted her onto her back beneath him.

He looked down at her with a ravenousness gaze. “You’re so beautiful.”

She moaned out wantonly as his hand palmed and caressed one breast as his mouth worshiped the other. She tugged off his shirt, running her hands over the muscles of his chest and reveling in the weight of his body covering hers and the feeling of his bare skin against hers.

“Riza, tell me if I’m going to fast,” Roy murmured as he kissed his way from her belly to her lips.

“Don’t stop,” she moaned.

She couldn’t remember removing her tights, but the feel of his warm hands on the bare skin of her inner thighs brought his name to her lips. She knew that she was being reckless, but she couldn’t stop herself. His touches and kisses burned her from the inside out. She was strung taut like a bow.

She could feel him hard against her leg. When she touched him over his pants curiously he let out a low groan. He pulled her hands away from him and sat up, running a hand through his mused up hair.

“Riza.” His voice was husky and his chest rose and fell like he’d just run a marathon. He ran a hand through his already mused up hair again. “Is this okay? How far do you want to go?”

She made up her mind quickly as she gazed up at him. She was being reckless, but she knew that if she’d didn’t do this she would regret it forever. He would never be hers, but at least she could have one night of passion to sustain her in the future lonely nights. “Roy, I want you. I want all of you.”

His searched her eyes. “Have you ever done this before?” His eyes widened as she shook her head. “You’re a virgin?”

She bit her lip. “Is that okay?”

His eyes smoldered as he captured her lips in a breathless kiss. “Yes, of course. It’s better than okay.”

xxx

She woke up alone in Roy’s bed. The sun coming in through the windows informed her of the lateness of the hour. She stretched and climbed out of bed, feeling sore between her legs. Muscle groups that she wasn’t aware existed before last night ached in protest.

It was quiet in the house.

Where was Roy? The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in his arms in the early hours of the morning after a long night of passion.

An unpleasant thought nagged her as she ran a bath. Had he returned to East City a day early now that he’d gotten what he came here for: he’d learned his master’s flame alchemy and debauched his master’s daughter. Had he fled before she could try to trap him into an ill-advised relationship?

She slipped into the water with a sigh and tried not to dwell of Roy’s absence. Roy had been gentle when he’d taken her virginity, but there was a still a lingering soreness between her legs. She rested her head back against the warm porcelain of the tub and closed her eyes.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she heard the sound of the front door opening to the house opening and Roy arguing with another man outside. The water was still warm, so it couldn’t have been too long. She heard two pairs of footsteps making their way towards the library and a third taking the stairs upstairs two at a time.

The footsteps stopped outside the bathroom. There was a rap of knuckles against the door before Roy’s voice called, “Riza, are you in here?”

“I’m taking a bath,” she called back.

Roy seemed to take it an invitation, which wasn’t really what she’d intended. At least he closed the door behind himself to keep the warm air inside. He leaned back against the doorway with a smirk. “Well this is a pretty picture.”

She rolled her eyes at him as he leered at her. “It’s nearly one in the afternoon. I must have really tired you out last night,” he continued.

She snorted.

His smirk softened into a gentle smile and she felt her heart skip a beat. “How are you feeling?”

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, stretching her arms along the sides of the tub. “I feel fine.” She glanced up at him through her eyelashes. “I heard voices. What’s going on? Who’s downstairs?”

He raised an eyebrow. “It’s Monday, the 22nd.”

She crossed her arms over her breasts as she realized the significance of that particular day. “Of course. Pastor Schafer and his son Peter are here to pick up the books for the parish library. I didn’t realize it was already the 22nd.”  

He nodded. “Can you come downstairs when you finish up in here? Pastor Schafer and Peter want to see you. They were concerned when you didn’t come to meet them downstairs. I had to talk Peter down from trying to search the house to make sure that you were all right.”

Riza’s eyes widened. It would have been disastrous if she had been discovered naked in Roy’s bed by Pastor Schafer or his son. “I’ll get out now.”

Roy grabbed her towel from where she’d tossed it on the bench by the tub. She blushed as he opened it and held it out for her. “Roy,” Riza hissed. “Get out of here and make sure they stay downstairs!”

Roy raised an eyebrow and indicated the towel with a gesture of his head. “Not until you get out of the tub.”

She shook her head at him and she stood up from the bath. Roy’s dark eyes gazed at her naked body hungrily before wrapping the towel around her and lifting her out of the bath. He pulled her flush against him and gave her a quick but passionate kiss.

She put a hand to her lips as he pulled away and put her back onto her feet. “Get dressed. I’ll stall them,” he winked at her.

She watched him hurry down the stairs before she went into her bedroom and opened her wardrobe to look for something to wear. She pulled on a dress made of gray wool before sitting on the edge of her bed and pulling on a pair of tights underneath. After tying the laces of her boots, she ran a hand through the damp ends of her hair and leaned over to look at her reflection in the mirror of her vanity. Her lips were a red and swollen from kissing, but otherwise, she didn’t look any different.

She saw Pastor Schafer walking out the door as she crossed to the stop of stairs. She hurried outside after him. The pastor was a kind man several years older than her father had been. His once blonde hair had turned prematurely white, giving him a more distinguished appearance.

“Pastor Schafer,” she called as she walked out the front door. She wrapped her arms around herself as she shivered in the cold. She’d been in such a hurry that she’d forgotten to pull on her coat.

He turned towards her with a smile as he closed the door to their truck. “There you are, Miss Hawkeye. I was worried when you didn’t show up at the front door. Peter wanted us to seek you out in the house to make sure you were all right, but Mister Mustang was kind enough to ask for us to give you some privacy during this time of morning. Luckily he was able to help us with the books. Thank you for thinking of the Esocer parish. It was very generous of you to think of others during your times of trial.”

She nodded to him with a small smile. “What need do I have of a library full of books?”

Pastor Schafer rested a hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her. “Always I’ve always admired that about you, Miss Hawkeye. Even as a child, you were always so practical. You’ve always had your feet firmly on the ground, not like my twins. Their heads always seems to be in the clouds.”

Riza chuckled. “That’s true. Peter and Magdalena are dreamers at heart.”

Paster Schafer put his hands on his hips. “Well that’s the last of the books for the parish library. I’ll get the truck started. Can you let Peter know that we’re ready to leave?”

“Will do.”

Pastor Schafer looked at her carefully with his kind blue eyes. “I’m sorry for your loss, Miss Hawkeye. If there is anything that my family can do to help, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you,” Riza whispered.

Riza rubbed her hands down her arms as she walked back inside to warm herself up. When she entered the library, she found Roy talking with Peter Schafer, the pastor’s son. Well talking was probably too polite of a word to use. It would have been more appropriate to say that Roy and Peter were snapping or maybe snarling at one another. Riza ran a hand through her hair as she lingered in the hallway, feeling a strange sense of deja vu.

Roy and Peter had always gotten along like oil and water from as early back as Roy’s first month as her father’s apprentice. They couldn’t be more different. Roy was dark haired and dark eyed. He was a smooth talker and a flirt who followed no faith except the laws of alchemy. Peter was blonde haired and blue eyed. He was a kindhearted and serious man who followed his father’s religion with devout fervor. Riza had always gotten along well with Peter and considered him to be a good friend. Roy thought Peter was a judgmental asshole.

“Why are you still sniffing around here, military dog? You had better keep your sinful hands away from Miss Hawkeye!”

“What if Riza doesn’t want to keep her hands away from me?” Roy drawled.

“Mister Mustang,” Riza gasped at Roy in surprise.

“You’re a reprobate and a scoundrel,” Peter continued. “You should return to Central where you belong.”

“Mister Schafer,” Riza chastised. “That is unkind. I’m greatly indebted to Mister Mustang for helping to arrange my father’s funeral.”

Peter Schafer glared over at Roy. “Miss Hawkeye, I wish that you had come to myself or my father during your time of need. I doubt Mister Mustang assisted you out of the kindness of his heart. It makes me sick imagining the payment a man like him would ask from a vulnerable, and beautiful girl like you.”

Riza looked at Peter in surprise at his candor. She wasn’t sure if she was flattered or insulted by his description of her. She was vulnerable in some ways, she supposed. She didn’t have any money or family members to fall back on, but she had other things. She was a crack shot with a rifle and she was well educated. She would never be called a great beauty, but her features were pleasing to the eye. What she considered more important were her keen mind, kind soul, and uncompromising spirit.

Roy snorted. “You have a perverse imagination for someone who claims to be so devout. Master Hawkeye was my mentor; it was the least that I could do to help his daughter with his funeral. Think of it as equivalent exchange. What would you have asked from Miss Hawkeye in exchange for helping with her father’s funeral? Her hand in marriage?”

Riza stared in surprise at Peter. His cheeks burned red, avoiding her gaze.

Roy’s voice was a dangerous purr as he continued, “That’s what you would have asked for in exchange, and so you assumed that I asked for something less pure? Maybe Miss Hawkeye’s virginity? Or maybe that wouldn’t be enough for a reprobate and a scoundrel like myself? Maybe I asked for her to become my mistress in exchange for burying her father.”

“You bastard!” Peter raged, charging Roy and tackling him to the ground.

They rolled around the floor of her father’s library punching one another. Again feeling a strange sense of déjà vu, Riza walked over to them with a heavy sigh. Picking up two books from the pile of books that Roy would taking back to East City, she slammed them down over Roy’s and Peter’s heads.

“This is ridiculous,” Riza snapped. “You’re acting like children. Stop this at once. Mister Mustang has been a gentleman during his stay here.”

If anything Peter Schafer’s face turned even redder. “You don’t need to cover for this villain, Miss Hawkeye. I saw Mister Mustang purchase pennyroyal at the apothecary this morning!”

Riza crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at Roy who paled in realization before she turned to the red faced Peter. “Mister Mustang’s apothecary purchases are none of your business. You shame yourself by spreading such base rumors. Please remove yourself from my house. Your father is waiting for you outside.”  

“Miss Hawkeye,” Peter protested.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orphaned and penniless at sixteen, Riza Hawkeye finds her future closely intertwined with that of her father’s apprentice, Roy Mustang.

 Chapter Three

Riza curled up on the seat in the large bay window of the front parlor and gazed outside. Pulling her knees to her chest, she rested her chin on her knees as she watched a cardinal flutter down to the branch of the elm tree in the front of the house. Its blood red breast stood out starkly against the muted whites and browns of the cold January afternoon. 

“Here,” said Roy’s voice at her elbow.

She glanced over at him and took the proffered tea. She glanced down at it. “So this is pennyroyal tea? Who knew that it would cause such controversy?”

Roy sat down in the bay window next to her, sliding back against the opposite wall so their feet almost touch. “Madam Schwartz, the apothecary, was discrete about it this morning. There was only one other man at the store with his hood pulled up over face. I guess that was Peter Schafer.”

She wrinkled her nose at the pungent mint scent of the tea. She sipped it with distaste. Roy had added honey, which helped to cut the too strong mint taste. It didn’t make it easier to drink, but held her breath and forced the rest of it down.

She rested her chin back on her knees as she stared over at him. “Do you brew pennyroyal tea for all your lovers? The honey’s a nice touch.”

Roy blushed. “This is my first time brewing it. I’ve only had two lovers before you, and we used protection both times. I didn’t think to bring condoms when I arrived here after Christmas. I learned how to brew the tea from my aunt.”

“Madam Christmas?” Riza wondered. “I’d like to meet her someday.”

Roy grinned over at her. “I’m sure you will. She owns a hostess club in Central City. I’ve seen her brew pennyroyal tea on occasion for the girls that work there. I thought that the apothecary might have some in stock.”  

She sighed and leaned back against the wall behind her as she looked out the window. “Well you saw me drink the stuff, so you won’t need to worry about me getting pregnant.”

“Right,” he mused, looking her with an unfathomable expression. “Hungry?”

“A little,” she nodded.

He continued his study of her face. She was starting to feel uncomfortable at the intensity of it. Standing up from her seat, she asked, “Have you eaten yet?”

He nodded. “I made myself some lunch before the Schafers showed up.”

“Ah,” she said, walking to the kitchen.

Roy rose from the bay window and followed her into the kitchen. She glanced up at him as she spread butter over a piece of bread before putting on thick slice of roasted venison. Her supply of venison was running low. She would have to go out hunting again soon. “What’s wrong?”

“I leave for Central City tomorrow. I was able to get special permission from Lieutenant General Grumman to extend my holiday leave so I could take the state alchemy exam next week, but I can’t delay it any longer. I need to spend a couple days in Central preparing my materials for the practical exam.”

Riza rested a hand over his. “Roy, you’re going to pass the exam and become the youngest state alchemist in history. You’ve mastered my father’s flame alchemy. That dragon you made last night was the most advanced application of flame alchemy I’ve ever seen. I never saw my father show the same delicate control of fire that you did last night.”

Roy’s eyes widened at the compliment.

Riza brushed her bangs back from her eyes as she sliced a piece of cheese for her sandwich. Not looking up at him, she continued, “Have you figured out how you’re going to start the reaction? Do you think that you could carve the transmutation circle into a lighter?”

“I was thinking about using pyrotex, ignition cloth,” Roy replied. “I’ll make gloves from it with the transmutation circle embroidered on the back. When I snap, it’ll create a spark that I can use to start the exothermic reaction.”

Riza took a bite of her sandwich and a raised eyebrow at him. “You sew?”

Roy winced. “Not exactly. I’ll need to ask Madam Christmas or one of the girls at the bar to help me. I should learn if I become a state alchemist because I’ll need spares.”

Riza nodded, taking a last bite of her sandwich and put her hands back on the table. “That’s surprising clever, Roy. If you start the reaction by snapping with those ignition gloves, everyone’ll simply assume the loud snap is from the gloves rather than the exothermic reaction of the oxygen catching fire.”

Roy put his hand over hers. His eyes burned with emotion she didn’t understand. “Riza, come back to East City with me.”

She looked at him in confusion. “Go to East City? What would I do there?” 

His cheeks burned red. “You could be my wife.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “Where’d this come from, Roy?”

He ran a hand through his hair and looked away. “I feel responsible for you.”

Her heart plummeted into her stomach. That was the worst way he could have asked for her hand in marriage. She could feel tears stinging at the corner of her eyes. After last night, she’d hoped that… but it was clear to her now that he wasn’t in love with her.

She wouldn’t let him see her cry.

Biting her bottom lip, she pulled her hands out from under his. She took a deep breath before she said, “You don’t need to feel responsible for me. I can take care of myself.”

“Riza,” he protested.

“I won’t be anyone’s burden,” she continued, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re only asking because you think you owe it to my father to protect me and his research on my back. That’s not a reason to marry someone, Roy.”  

He blinked at her in surprise. “I don’t understand. Why is wrong for me to want to take care of you?”

“I’m not a child,” she snapped. “I can take care of myself.”

“You’re sixteen!” Roy countered. “I’m doing what’s best for you. You don’t know how the world works. You’ve never even left Esocer!”

She glared at him in fury. “Do you expect me to be grateful? That you’re asking me to your wife rather than your mistress? From what I’ve read in dime novels, mistresses are supposed to be expensive. Maybe you should’ve asked for that instead? Sounds like a better deal.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” Roy protested.

She stalked to the front closet and pulled on her winter coat and grabbed her rifle from the wall. Roy’s eyes widened and he held up his hands in surrender. “I don’t need anyone to take care of me. I’ve been taking care of myself for ten years!”

She slammed the door on the way outside.

xxx

She spent the rest of the afternoon perched up in the blind shivering as she watched for a deer or a rabbit to pass into her sights. Resting the rifle in her lap, she leaned her head back against the wall of the blind and finally let the tears fall down her cheeks.

She’d been reckless. She shouldn’t have let herself fall into Roy Mustang’s arms and worse yet into his bed. He’d ruined her for any other man. She’d never be able to be with another man without thinking of Roy: of his lips on her skin, of him moving inside her, of the secrets of his alchemy tattooed into her back.

He didn’t love her; a man like Roy Mustang wouldn’t fall for a girl like her. He felt responsible for her, but that wasn’t enough. She didn’t want her husband to see her as a duty, as a sword to fall on. She wanted him to love her. She loved him too much to see him shackled into a marriage with a woman he didn’t love.

She wanted him more than anything. It broke her heart to tell him no when he was offering her the only thing that she’d ever wanted. But this pain would pass. If she accepted his offer of marriage, it would hurt infinitely more when everything inevitably shattered. That would break her. She couldn’t survive having everything before losing it all and worst of all discovering it all had only been an illusion.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orphaned and penniless at sixteen, Riza Hawkeye finds her future closely intertwined with that of her father’s apprentice, Roy Mustang.

#### Chapter Four

> 16th February 1906
> 
> Dearest Riza,
> 
> I’m writing to you from Central City. I wanted you to know that I passed the state alchemy exam. Fuhrer King Bradley himself, who was at the examination, was impressed with my practical exam. He selects the codenames of the state alchemists. For me, he chose the moniker: Flame Alchemist.
> 
> Thank you for all that you’ve done to help me achieve my dream. I couldn’t have achieved this without your trust. You’ve given my hands the strength to protect our country and its people.  
> 
> I’m enclosing my card where I’ve written my address in Central City. I’ve been stationed here for the near future with Colonel Basque Grand as my commanding officer. He’s a legend even among the ranks of the state alchemists for his combat prowess. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to learn a lot from him about ways to use my alchemy in the field.
> 
> I’m also enclosing a check to reimburse you for the alchemic texts that you gave me from your father’s library. I’m given a sizable research budget as a state alchemist, so while the number may seem like a large sum, I’m not any worse off financially as a result.
> 
> I need to see you again. Let me know if you’ll come to Central, otherwise, I’ll come visit you during the April bank holiday. I miss you. I wish that I could walk through your garden again. The thought of your smiles and your kisses haunts me day and night.
> 
> Longing for you,
> 
> Roy

xxx

Maybe she’d been childish. Maybe she’d been foolish. Maybe she didn’t understand how the world worked. She’d expected things to get easier after her father passed. She expected things to get easier after Roy boarded the train back to East City. She hadn’t expected creditors to come knocking at her door day and night.

She knew her father had debts. How could he not? She knew there wasn’t much money coming into the household and she knew there was money going out. She’d been tracking those transactions herself for the last three years. She’d managed to keep their debts low even with her father’s deteriorating health. What she hadn’t realized was how deep a hole her father had dug before Riza was born. It was insurmountable. It was hopeless. She didn’t know what to do.

To matters worse, she’d begun to make plans for her future before the reality of her debts was made known. What little money she thought she had was gone. Nevertheless, she pressed on. There was little point in dwelling on her misfortunes or missteps. She had to look to the future.  

During mid February, Riza sat for the entrance examination to the Scholar’s Academy. She was able to take it at the county school down the road with Mister Lorenz as the proctor and then send it to the Scholar’s Academy in West City. Her mother had once been the teacher at the county school. Mister Lorenz, who had taken the post after her mother’s death, had always been kind to Riza. Attending the Scholar’s Academy and earning her teaching certificate had long been a dream of Riza’s as a way to honor her mother.

The results came back on Friday, March 2nd. She’d done well on the examination and had been invited for an interview at the Scholar’s Academy in West City the week of March 19th. After a two letters back and forth to the headmistress, she was able to schedule her interview for the afternoon of Friday, March 23rd. So she spent her last 50,000-cenz note on a train ticket to West City.

She hadn’t realized at the time that it was her last 50,000-cenz note. She’d been forced to hand the rest over to her debt collectors. To make matters worse, Peter Schafer was breathing down her neck. He’d somehow learned of her father’s debts – the detriment of living in a small town was everyone knew your business – and had offered to discharge all of her debts if she accepted his offer of marriage.

Maybe Roy had been right about Peter after all.

With a tired sigh, Riza looked up at the number of the platform to be certain she was waiting on the right side of the track. The train would depart from Esocer at 7:05am. She would need to transfer at Yoewap and then Yeuc before arriving into West City Station at 15:15. It would give her enough time to get to her interview at the Scholar’s Academy that had been scheduled for 17:00. She couldn’t afford to rent a room, so she would need to travel back to Esocer directly afterwards. She wasn’t looking forward to waiting at Central City Station from after midnight until four in the morning for her next train. But it was the only route back to Esocer from West City at that time of day.

“Good morning, Miss Hawkeye. You look well. Are you traveling to Central City today? We could sit together on the train,” commented a voice behind her.

She turned to see the kind face of Mister Albrecht, the postman. He wasn’t a tall man, but he was broad about the shoulders and torso. Nevertheless, he had the energy and curiosity of a much younger man. He lived above the post office with his wife and aging mother. His daughter Elke who was four years older than Riza had left Esocer for West City and the Scholar’s Academy three years ago.

Riza turned to the older man with a smile. “Good morning, Mister Albrecht. I hope you and your family are in good health. I’m transferring at Yoewap and then Yeuc on my way to West City. I have my interview at the Scholar’s Academy today.”

The postman beamed. “That’s wonderful news. I didn’t realize you were applying for the Scholar’s Academy. What course of study are you hoping to enter?”

There was a loud whistle as the train roared into the station, dispelling a loud of steam and smoke onto the platform. Riza followed Mister Albrecht into the carriage. He found a pair of empty benches facing one another in the next train car for them. They sat down across from one another.

“I’m glad that I ran into you on the platform, Mister Albrecht,” Riza said with relief as she looked out at the countryside rushing by. “I’ve never taken the train before, I wasn’t sure where I would be allowed to sit.”

Mister Albright nodded. “These regional trains don’t typically have assigned seating. It’s only really the express trains between the capital cities or the overnight trains that have seats or bunks assigned. With these regional trains you can sit in any carriage as long as you’re sitting in the correct class. Your ticket and mind read second class, so we have to be sure to sit in on the second class carriages.

Riza nodded, filing that information away for future reference. “How’s Elke? She graduated from the Scholar’s Academy a year ago if I’m not mistaken.”

Mister Albrecht nodded. “Yes, indeed. Thank you for asking. She’s well. She studied nursing and now works for a hospital in Central City. I hadn’t realized you applied to the Scholar’s Academy. I would have given you her address in Central City in case you wanted to write to her about her experience.”

It was strange that Mister Albrecht was unaware she’d applied to the Scholar’s Academy. There’d been several pieces of correspondence back and forth between herself and the Scholar’s Academy to schedule’s today’s interview. Mister Albrecht was the postman of their small town. She’d always assumed all of their letters passed through his hands. After all he seemed to have almost a prescient knowledge of events going on in town.

“That’s kind of you, Mister Albrecht,” Riza noted.

The postman ran a hand through his brown hair that was now streaked with gray. “I had to hire an assistant at the beginning of the New Year to help manage sorting and delivering the mail. As a result, I’ve been of the loop about goings on around town. But it was necessary. My mother’s health deteriorated since the New Year, so I haven’t had as much time at the post office. Please don’t tell Elke about her grandmother. I worry she’ll resign her position in Central City and come home to take care of her grandmother if she finds out. I don’t want to take away from her life in Central City. My wife and I have managed fine and Doctor Schwartz has been a godsend.”

Riza put a gently hand on her companion’s arm. “I’m sorry to hear about your mother’s health. She’ll be in my thoughts.”

“Thank you,” Mister Albrecht said quietly, putting a hand over hers. “That’s very kind of you to say, Miss Hawkeye. You have been in my thoughts and prayers as well. I was sorry to hear about your father’s passing. If there’s anything my wife or I can do to assist you, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you, Mister Albrecht. I appreciate that more than you know.”

“It was very generous of your father’s apprentice to pay for the funeral arrangements,” he continued. “My wife was telling me how she thought it was such a noble thing for Mister Mustang to do for you. She said that he even stayed during the following weeks while you were in mourning. He’s grown into a fine young man and a solider now, I believe.”

“Yes,” Riza replied, trying to hide her blush.

“My Elke will be curious to hear news of Roy Mustang. She was sweet on him while he lived in Esocer as your father’s apprentice. Do you have any news about Roy Mustang that I could pass along to Elke?”

“I’m afraid not.” Riza shook her head, keeping her expression carefully blank.

“More’s the pity,” sighed Mister Albrecht. “Now that Peter Schafer’s sorting and delivering the mail I’ve become very behind on town gossip. Peter has little interest in gossip, so I haven’t been able to learn anything of interest lately.”

Riza looked out the window as the train hurtled on through the countryside. It was some comfort to know that Mister Albrecht was behind on gossip. If he knew about her dire financial situation – from all the letters addressed to her from a shockingly wide variety of her father’s creditors – the rest of her small town would also know in short order. Peter Schafer at least had kept this knowledge to himself. Though he was trying to take advantage of her vulnerable position rather than gossiping about it like Mister Albrecht would have done.

She wasn’t sure which she would have preferred.

xxx

>                                                 22nd March 1906
> 
> Dearest Riza,
> 
> I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to write to you. I was waiting to hear from you, but got impatient after a month had passed. If you sent a letter to my old address in East City, it’s possible I may not have received it. Here’s my address again in Central for your reference:
> 
>                         94 Wilhelmstrasse #5
> 
>                         Central City, Amestris
> 
> You can always try to contact me through the military. A letter send to a 2nd Lieutenant Roy Mustang at the East City Command Center is sure to make its way to Major Roy Mustang at Central Command.
> 
> I hope I didn’t offend you with that check from my research account. I haven’t seen the check clear yet, so I know that you haven’t cashed it. I hope you’ll accept the money. It’s the least I can do to repay you for your generosity with your father’s books.
> 
> I’m planning to visit you in Esocer during the April Bank holiday whether or not I hear from you. I was able to get my leave approved, so I’ll be coming to Esocer to visit you from Saturday, April 7th through Wednesday, April 11th.
> 
>                                                 Longing for you,
> 
>                                                 Roy

xxx

Riza sprinted through the West City Station, skidding to a stop in front of a map of the city in the atrium of the train station. She pressed her finger to the marker on the map that represented the train station and carefully double-checked the route that would take her to the Scholar’s Academy.

Her first train arrived on time to Yeowap, but she’d gotten lost trying to find the platform for her connection to Yeuc. After waiting on platform 1B for fifteen minutes, she realized that the train pulling away from 2B right on schedule was her train to Yeuc. Riza was able to use her ticket for the next train, but that made her miss her next connection. When she made it to the platform in Yeuc, it was to see her train cresting over the ridge and onto West City. Trains to West City didn’t run as often in the evening, so she had to wait another ninety minutes for the next train. She arrived into West City station at 17:15, fifteen minutes after her interview was supposed to begin.

Luckily, it was a short distance to the Scholar’s Academy. She made it in record time, only arriving a couple minutes later. She’d been nervous about her first trip to the big city, but in the rush to get to her destination she’d left her fears behind at the train station.

The Scholar’s Academy sat on a large campus in the northern part of the city. The main building was immense and towering, with an intricate brick façade. There was a curtain of ivy climbing up the leeward side of the main building. In the spring and summer there would have added a splash of green against the brick of the building, but the leaves had been shed during the autumn. There were four smaller buildings constructed from the same colored brick lined up in pairs behind the main building.   A high brick wall surrounded the well-manicured grounds.

She was greeted at the front gate by a guard who looked at her strangely. She must have been a sight, flushed from her mad dash from the train station. Her best suit was rumbled and her blonde bangs were sticking to the sweat on her forehead.

“My name is Riza Hawkeye,” she tried to explain again to the guard. “I’m here for an interview with the headmistress, Madam Engel.”

At the loud thud of a book being slammed shut, Riza looked to the left of the gate where a young woman stood up from a bench. She looked to be only a couple years older than Riza and was very pretty. She was tall, maybe an inch taller than her. Her light blue suit was the same color as her eyes. It complemented her pale skin and white blonde hair. Her makeup was done very tastefully, showing off her full red lips, pink cheeks, and eyes. Her suit was more in line with the style of the day than Riza’s: the skirt flared out into an A-line and the cut of her jacket was tailored to show off her slim frame to best effect.

Her lip curled up as she eyed Riza’s frazzled appearance with distaste. “You’re Riza Hawkeye? Madam Engel is waiting for you. You’re late.”

Riza brushed back her blonde bangs from her eyes and returned the other woman’s frown with a neutral expression. “I apologize. I missed my train connection so I arrived in West City much later than I had planned.”

The woman raised an eyebrow. “The trains of Amestris are renowned for their efficiency and timeliness. If you missed a train connection, it’s no fault of the Amestrian train system.”

Riza ran her hands down her skirt to try to smooth some of the wrinkles that had been created during her mad run to the Scholar’s Academy. It didn’t hurt to admit this abrasive woman was correct in her assessment, so she said calmly, “You’re right of course. This was my first time taking the train and I got lost trying to locate the correct platform.”

The other woman pursed her lips. “You’re very disheveled, Miss Hawkeye. First impressions are of the utmost importance at the Scholar’s Academy. Arriving late and disheveled for an interview not only reflects poorly on you, but on all the students attending the Scholar’s Academy.”

Riza straightened her suit jacket and nodded to the other woman. “I understand. It won’t happen again, Miss uh—I apologize, I realize that I didn’t ask your name.”

The other woman tossed back her long blonde hair over a shoulder and said, “My name is Renate Muller. I’m a student here at Scholar’s Academy.”

Riza held out her hand with a bland smile. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Muller.”

Renate Muller huffed and looked over at Riza like she was an insect under her shoe that she wanted to smash. “And you as well, Miss Hawkeye. Well I’m to escort you up to Madam Engel’s office. You’re so late, that the headmistress sent me down to find you.”

Riza nodded politely. “Again, I’m very sorry for my tardiness.”  

Riza trailed Renate Muller across the grounds towards the main building. Riza took a deep breath. This was not going well at all. She’d been taken aback to be met with such vitriol from this student at the front gates. Was this the sort of attitude that Riza would expect from her classmates here?

Renate Muller opened the front door of the main building with a sneer and nodded for Riza to enter the hallway ahead of her. “This way.”

Their shoes clicked against the parquet floor as they walked to a door at the base of a wide sweeping staircase. Renate Muller rapped twice on the door. Riza could hear a shuffling from inside and then heavy footsteps walking up to the door. The door opened and she was met with Headmistress Engel. Madam Engel was a severe woman in her mid-fifties with beady black eyes and her thin brown hair pulled back into a tight bun at the back of her head.

She raised an eyebrow at Riza’s untidy appearance before turning to Miss Muller with an approving smile. “Thank you, Miss Muller.” Turning to Riza, the woman said, “Renate is one of our best students. She’s accepted a teaching position at Madam Lucerne’s School in Central City for next fall. A wonderful accomplishment.”

Riza glanced over at Renate Muller, who was preening under the headmistress’ compliment. Riza raised an eyebrow and nodded politely. “Congratulations, Miss Muller. A wonderful accomplishment indeed.”

“Come in then, Miss Hawkeye,” said Madam Engel.

“You’re late,” Madam Engel said simply as Riza quietly closed the door behind herself. “I don’t appreciate tardiness, Miss Hawkeye.”

Riza nodded respectfully. “My sincerest apologizes, Madam Engel. It was inexcusable and I promise it will not happen again.” Madam Engel’s beady eyes moved from Riza’s face to her feet and back up again. Riza cleared her throat. “I must also apologize for my appearance. I have no excuse and will not insult you by putting one forward.”

Madam Engel clasped her hands behind her back. “The Scholar’s Academy expects its students to behave with the dignity and decorum at all times. If it were not for your excellent test scores, illustrious family connections, and recommendation from your school teacher, I would have asked you to leave my office immediately.”

“I understand, madam,” Riza nodded.

“Not only do we have strict guidelines about the behavior of the woman who attend the Scholar’s Academy but we also have standards as to their dress and appearance. You do not meet those standards today.”

Riza nodded. “I gleaned that as well from my conservation with Miss Muller.”

Madam Engel walked back to her desk. She motioned for Riza to sit in front of it. After the headmistress sat down, she stared at Riza intently. Riza refused to quake under the other women’s fierce stare. “You are a very intelligent girl, Miss Hawkeye. You achieved one of the highest score on the entrance exam that the Scholar’s Academy has ever seen. You’re well versed in languages, literature, history, mathematics, and science.”

Riza nodded. She’d studied long and hard over the years to achieve that level of mastery. She was proud of it and her intelligence.

“I cannot tell you what a disappointment it is to see a promising student from an illustrious family present herself as you have. For goodness sake, with your short hair and bare face you look like a prepubescent boy wearing his mother’s suit.”

Riza raised an eyebrow. Well that was insulting. She’d always thought that her shorter hair complimented her delicate facial features. But more than anything it was easier for her to maintain. She didn’t think there was anything wrong with not wearing makeup, she saw makeup as a luxury she couldn’t afford.

Madam Engel waved a hand at her. “You will need to begin growing out your hair immediately. It will need to be shoulder length at the minimum.”

Riza cleared her throat, trying to keep the vitriol out of her voice. “Pardon me, headmistress. I don’t believe a minimum hair length is part of the dress code.”

The headmistress looked at her with disgust. “The dress code states clearly that all of our students must look like fashionable young women. Your appearance is not only unfashionable, but it’s _masculine_.”

“A boy in a skirt, yes, I understand,” Riza quipped back.

Madam Engel narrowed her eyes at Riza before opening the folder on her desk and looked up at Riza again. “I see that you are applying for the education program. I found that surprising given your mathematics and science scores on the entrance exam. Have you considered nursing or medicine instead?”

Riza shook her head. “No, mam. I would like to be a teacher, not a nurse or a doctor. My father dedicated his life to alchemy and ensured that I had a strong foundation in the maths and sciences. However, I don’t want to dedicate my life to those same pursuits.”

Madam Engel raised an eyebrow. “What a waste of a strong analytical mind.”

Riza said matter-of-factly. “I don’t see it that way, mam.”

Madam Engel closed the file in front of her. “Well you’re accepted into the Scholar’s Academy, Miss Hawkeye. You will be eligible to begin your course of study during the upcoming fall semester. Congratulations.”  

Riza looked at the headmistress in surprise. Riza had been certain from the way she’d been treated by the headmistress and her prize student that she was going to get a rejection.

“Thank you,” she said stiffly.

Madam Engel handed her the folder that she’d been looking through. “You’ll find your introductory packet in this folder as well as the orientation schedule for your first semester,” the headmistress said as if my rote. She’d no doubt given this speech hundreds of times before. “The details about the semester’s tuition are included. We expect the first check by August 1st if you wish to enroll for the fall semester. As you are under eighteen years old, you will also need to have your guardian sign the included form about your decision to attend our school.”

Riza felt all of the blood drain from her face. Tuition? Guardian?

“Madam Engel, I wanted to inquire about any scholarship or work study programs that might be available to me to help cover the cost of the tuition.”

Madam Engel sneered. “Don’t tell me you’re uncomfortable accepting your grandfather’s assistance. General Grumman is a great benefactor to the school. Not only does he sponsor a scholarship here in honor of your mother, but he also set aside the funds to pay for your education and provide you with a healthy stipend during your studies. We’ve been anxiously awaiting having his granddaughter at the Scholar’s Academy for some time.”

“My grandfather?” Riza whispered. Who was General Grumman? Clearly he was her maternal grandfather, but she knew nothing about him. Why’d he set aside money for her to attend the Scholar’s Academy? How did he know she’d apply?

Madam Engel put a hand to her chin. “Ah, that reminds me. He asked me to give you this letter. Do give him our regards.”

Riza accepted the letter blankly, putting it down on top of the folder in her lap. She didn’t recognize the handwriting, but it was her name clear as day on the envelope. “Thank you, mam,” Riza said, staring down at the envelope.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orphaned and penniless at sixteen, Riza Hawkeye finds her future closely intertwined with that of her father’s apprentice, Roy Mustang.

Chapter Five

 

_A warm fire glowed in the first place of her father’s study. She stretched out on her belly on the green settee, naked from the waist up. The green velvet was plush against her bare breasts. Roy’s warm fingers traced the lines of the tattooed serpent undulating across from her shoulder blades to her lower back._

_Kissing his way across the transmutation circle in the middle of her back he breathed into her skin, “I love you, Riza.”_

_His eyes were dark pools as he turned her onto her back on the settee. Leaning over her, he captured her lips in a passionate kiss. He shifted onto the settee, the hard planes of his body pressing hers into the couch. As he cupped her bare breasts in his warm hands, she moaned into his mouth.._

_“Oh, Roy,” she gasped._  

She awoke with a start at someone shaking her shoulder. She looked over at the train conductor with confusion. “Miss, we’ve arrived at Central City Station.” She blushed bright red. She hoped that she hadn’t been moaning out Roy’s name in her sleep. “This is the last stop,” he continued. “You’ll have to exit the train.”

“Yes, of course,” she mumbled, her voice husky with sleep.

As she followed the train conductor through the empty train car, she unzipped her bag to make sure that no one had taken anything while she’d fallen asleep. Everything was still there: the folder with her acceptance to the Scholar’s Academy, the letter from her grandfather, and the check that he’d given her. It was more than enough to pay down all of her debts. It was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She could breathe again. The train conductor offered her a hand down from the train car, which she gladly accepted.

“Thank you, sir,” she said as they parted ways.  

Rubbing her tired eyes, she made her way to the large display in the entryway of Central City Station to see what platform her train to Esocer would be leaving from in four hours.

DAMENO LINE – PLATFORM 16 – 04:00 – AS SCHEDULED

Her fortunes had changed dramatically over the last few hours. She’d been accepted into the Scholar’s Academy. She’d discovered a long lost relative – her maternal grandfather.

She’d pored over her grandfather’s letter on the train ride to Central City Station before she’d tucked away the letter to close her tired eyes for a couple minutes and apparently fell asleep. His words were warm and kind. Riza had never known until now what caused the rift between her mother and grandfather. He apologized for missing out on so much of her life, but begged her to let him be a resource of love and support for her now. She was relieved to have someone to lean on again, someone who asked for so little in return.

The station was quiet at that hour. Riza decided to pass the time in the main gallery of the station where there was a small crowd -- safety in numbers. She found a quiet bench in a well-lit corner of the large atrium near a display of women’s clothes. The metal grates had been pulled down over all the stores during the evening, so she wasn’t able to waste away the hours window-shopping.

She riffled through her bag to find the letter from her grandfather. She grinned at it with amusement. He’d even enclosed an envelope with his address and a piece of stationary if she was looking for a reason to kill time during her trip back to Esocer after her interview.

 

>                                                 Riza Hawkeye
> 
>                                                 Thornfield
> 
> 31 Roseneath Drive
> 
>                                                 Esocer, Amestris
> 
> 23rd March 1906 
> 
> Lieutenant General Grumman
> 
> East City Command Center
> 
> 1 Miliary Drive
> 
> East City, Amestris
> 
>  
> 
> Dear Grandfather,
> 
> It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I must say I’m impressed you had the foresight (or perhaps the audacity) to include stationary and a self addressed envelope for my reply. Though I doubt you were able to climb the military ladder so far without a keen understanding of the motivations of others. 
> 
> I hope that this letter finds you in good health. I want to thank you for your generosity in helping to discharge my father’s debts and sponsor my education at the Scholar’s Academy. It’s a debt I can never repay.
> 
> I’m sorry it’s taken the death of my mother and father for us to become acquainted. I look forward to strengthening our relationship for years to come.
> 
>                                                 Your granddaughter,
> 
>                                                 Riza   

She looked at the letter. She’d only filled the front side of the page. Was it rude to write so little to her grandfather, her generous benefactor? She wasn’t sure what else to say.

After deciding there was nothing wrong with being concise in a letter to a man who was her closest relative but also a complete stranger, she folded the stationary and sealed it into the envelope her grandfather had provided. Glancing around the main gallery of the station, she saw a postbox in the corner opposite her bench.

Rising with a tired sigh, she tossed her bag over her shoulder and walked over and dropped her letter into the postbox. It would be posted tomorrow. Rubbing her eyes, she looked up at the clock in the main gallery. It read 01:25. 

Still another three and a half hours to kill. 

She glanced back at the postbox in surprise. Putting a hand to her forehead, she cursed. She meant to ask her grandfather about signing the form that the headmistress had provided. Her father’s solicitor hadn’t revealed to her yet the identity of her guardian. Who could it have been except her grandfather?

Crossing her arms over her chest, she took a stroll around the large open gallery of the train station. Her grandfather’s words had been enlightening. Riza’s own father had rarely spoken about her mother, so all she’d come to know about the woman who’d given birth to her was from old pictures or annotations in the margins of novels.

Riza had always painted Nora Hawkeye née Grumman as a serious woman with a sharp analytical mind. She imagined that her mother was given to flights of fancy and romance on occasion, but more often slipped into melancholy. General Grumman painted a different picture entirely: of a young woman with fierce intelligence and a fierce independent streak. Her mother tried to make it appear that other’s opinion of her didn’t matter to her, but she took them deeply to heart. She was a hopeless romantic, bursting with optimism about her future.

Her mother’s time at the Scholar’s Academy had been rewarding but difficult. Nora was headstrong, finding the rules about decorum and dignity stifling. She was a free spirit, finding the intense focus on appearance and beauty at odds with her own focus on her education.

Her mother had made friends during her time there, but it wasn’t the large sorority of like-minded women that she’d expected. The other students fell quickly into cliques and would become competitive and cutthroat. The worst was when the Scholar’s Academy would. have dances with the men of the West City University, their brother school. Many women, particularly in the education program, were more interested in getting a marriage certificate than a teaching certificate.

Riza’s father Berthold had been a teaching assistant in the Chemistry Department at West City University and they’d met during a mixer at his school. When her mother wrote home about this man several years her senior and with a serious temperament, General Grumman and his wife became concerned. When Riza’s parents announced their engagement, General Grumman did everything in his power to break the couple apart. 

He’d been unsuccessful.

Riza’s parents eloped and cut off all contact from their families. It appeared Berthold Hawkeye’s parents hadn’t approved of his marriage to Nora either. Grumman tried to reconnect with Nora after Riza’s birth, but was never able to see or hear from her again before her death three years later.

Riza stopped in front of the bench she’d been sitting in earlier with a tired sigh. She sat down heavily in it and pulled her knees up to her chest. The clock in the main gallery teased her. It was only 02:15.

She’d wasted almost an hour pondering the events of her mother’s life.

Grumman had congratulated Riza on her acceptance to the Scholar’s Academy and wrote that he would sponsor her education no matter wherever she decided to attend. Riza had found that curious. He’d left a letter for her at her mother’s alma mater and even sponsored a scholarship in her mother’s name. So why had he written that he would approve of her decision to attend somewhere other than the Scholar’s Academy?

The headmistress Madam Engel and her prize student Renate Muller hadn’t endeared themselves to Riza during the interview. Now hearing General Grumman’s take on her mother’s experience revealed that perhaps many of the other students at the school would be cut from the same cloth as Renate Muller rather than from the same cloth as Riza Hawkeye.

Regardless it was the premiere institution for a woman to study for her teaching certificate. She could have a future as a teacher and it was a way to get out of Esocer. But was she willing to grow out her hair so that she could dive into the nest of snakes to reach this goal?

Her grandfather would sponsor her education no matter where she attended.

When she stretched her legs out on the bench, she knocked down a copy of yesterday’s newspaper. Leaning over, she picked it up hoping for something else to keep her awake and help her to waste the two hours before her train would arrive. The person who had left the paper must have discarded sections of it as he or she went through their business during the day. They’d left the Metro Section on this bench. She shifted on the bench, crossing her ankles as she shook the paper open. Her eyes widened when she saw a familiar face on the second page.   

> THE CENTRAL TIMES
> 
> Friday, 23rd March 1906
> 
> FLAME ALCHEMIST SAVES HUNDREDS FROM FIRE
> 
> Major Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist, received his state alchemist certification on the 31st January and he’s already proven himself a shining example of the adage: Alchemists, be thou for the people. While Major Mustang is better known for his ability to create flames out of thin air, he has also now shown his proficiency in extinguishing them.
> 
> On the evening of Thursday, March 22nd, the Schiller House, a large housing complex in Goethestrasse caught fire. The Military Police were quickly called, but they were unable to either evacuate the building or control the conflagration. It quickly spread to the adjacent buildings, threatening the lives of hundreds living in the buildings.
> 
> Three state alchemists were called to assist the Military Police in controlling the fire, Major Roy Mustang (The Flame Alchemist), Major Alex Louis Armstrong (The Strong Arm Alchemist) and Major Isaac McDougal (The Freezing Alchemist). Major Roy Mustang was first on the scene and in quick order was able to completely extinguish the flames. Major Armstrong was next on the scene and along with Major Mustang and the military police added in the evacuation of the buildings.
> 
>                                                                                     (CONTINUED on Page 5)

She ran her fingers down the photograph that had been taken at the scene of the fire. There was soot in Roy’s hair, his cheeks, and the shoulders of his blue military uniform, but he was so beautiful. Folding the paper back, she ripped out the article about Roy and flipped through to find page 5 to finish reading the article. She sighed in disappointment. Some of the pages from the Metro section were missing, page 5 included.           

Leaning her head back against the bench she looked up at the ceiling of the train station. She was glad Roy had passed his state alchemy exam. She was proud that she’d shared her father’s research with him. He was a kind and noble man; she knew he would use this new power to protect the citizens of their country.

xxx

She’d begun and then promptly tore up three separate letters to Roy before she finally settled on what she wanted to say to him. She knew they’d parted on an awkward note. The last time she’d seen him, he’d taken her virginity, got into a fight with Peter Schafer, given her a cup of pennyroyal tea, and then proposed to her.

It had been a rather strange twenty-four hours for the both of them.

She spent the night before his departure shivering up in the deer blind. That had been foolish and reckless behavior on her part. She’d even caught a head cold as a result that had lasted through the end of January. Though she’d known if she’d faced him before he left for the train, she would have lost her nerve, fallen into his arms, and done whatever he’d asked.

She would have been his wife and he would have hated her for taking advantage of his weakness, of his madness.

He’d clearly seen the madness of his actions because he hadn’t contacted her once since his return to East City more than two months ago. A great deal had happened to him since then. He’d passed his state alchemy exam. It even seemed like he’d been reassigned to Central, something he was undoubtedly excited about.    

He clearly realized his proposal had been in a fit of madness because he hadn’t written to her since. He was probably thanking his lucky stars she hadn’t accepted. It was clear more than ever that he wasn’t in love with her.

She was frankly a little insulted he didn’t even have the decency to tell her that he’d passed the state alchemy exam. She was the one who entrusted him with her father’s research inked into her own skin.  

So she wrote the letter to Roy and poured out her pride at his accomplishments, her frustration at his silence, and her heartbreak at their parting. It was very satisfying to have it down on paper. Standing in front of the living room fireplace where they’d first made love she threw it into the fire.

Why should she seek him out? It was clear he wanted nothing to do with her. She’d already given too much to Roy Mustang to risk giving him anything more.

xxx

>                                                 3rd April 1906
> 
> Dearest Riza, 
> 
> I hope that this letter reaches you before I do. I promised that I would visit you in Esocer this coming week. I won’t be deterred by your silence. I’m willing to spend the entire time on your doorstop begging for you to once again let me into your home, into your garden, and into your heart.
> 
> I’ll be leaving on the morning train from central and should be on your doorstop in the late morning of Saturday, April 7th.
> 
>                                                 Longing for you,
> 
>                                                 Roy

xxx

Her second trip on the train was a piece of cake. It was only to the next town over, Owreiki, which had the county courthouse for Owreiki, Esocer, and the other neighboring towns. It was in Owreiki that her father’s solicitor had his office. Thus far they’d been communicating by post, but Riza preferred to make this transaction in person. They’d been sending letters back and forth for several days to arrange the meeting. Mister Roth finally had availability on Saturday, April 7th. Riza wanted to hand her father’s solicitor, Mister Roth, the certified check in person. She didn’t want to risk it getting lost in the post. This check would be her salvation. She’d even bought herself a new navy blue skirt and suit jacket in the latest style to celebrate her good fortune and appear more capable in front of her solicitor. 

Owreiki was a much larger town than Esocer. It was dwarfed of course by West City, but downtown Owreiki was a sight to behold in its own right. Wide avenues shadowed by the broad boughs of magnolia trees. Proud and stately townhomes with commanding white columns and colorful facades.

Mister Roth’s offices were in the downtown square of Owreiki, a pedestrian only block with shops, cafes, and restaurants spilling out into the square. At first she was confused when she saw the lights were off in the front of Mister Roth’s office, and the hours on the window informed that the solicitor’s hours were from Monday through Friday. Had she mistaken the day, coming on a Saturday? Nevertheless, she decided to try the door and it opened.

The front office was dark, but there’s was a light spilling out from the solicitor’s private office. “Miss Hawkeye?” called a voice from the private office. “Is that you? Please come back into my office.”

Mister Roth stood up as she walked into his office. He was younger than she expected, in his mid thirties perhaps, with blue eyes and thick auburn hair. He eyed her up and down with a lascivious smile. She held out her hand for him to shake and he pulled her into an embrace instead. He held her against him closer and longer than was appropriate.

She had a bad feeling about this.

“Miss Hawkeye, a pleasure to meet you at last,” he said huskily, releasing her.

“Thank you for meeting me, Mister Roth,” she said with forced politeness.

She became even more apprehensive at his expression. He was eying her like a piece of meat. Licking his lips, he continued, “You wanted to discuss discharging your debt? Frankly I was going to refuse your scandalous proposal from the cost of it alone. But seeing you now, I’m glad I agreed.”

Riza took a step backward, edging her way out of his office. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding, Mister Roth.”

He stepped forward quickly and slammed the door to his office shut behind her. Leaning over her, she could feel his stale breath against her forehead. “That’s not very sporting, Miss Hawkeye. Telling me you’d sleep with me in exchange for discharging your debt and then changing your mind at the last moment. It puts me in an awkward position too. You see, I informed your creditors yesterday that you were prepared to settle your debts this week. So they called all of the loans against your father’s estate. Unless you can come up with 10 million cenz by Friday, you have no choice but to give yourself to me.”

She pushed him away from her forcefully and he stumbled back in surprise. Taking a furious breath, she said in a commanding voice. “How dare you!”

He put a hand to his chest and chuckled to himself. “Say what you need to justify it to yourself. I’m not afraid to take you by force if I have to. Take off your jacket, I want to see what you have under that suit.”

She opened the door to his private office and fled into the darkness of the front room. She rummaged around in her purse and waved the certified check at him. “I have the 10 million cenz to discharge my debts! Even if I didn’t, I’d rather go to debtor’s prison then give myself to a man like you.”

He furrowed his brow as he looked at the piece of paper in her hand. “Then why’d you write last week saying you wanted to whore yourself out to me for the money?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I won’t be made to look the fool.”

She backed up until she was stopped by the front door of his offices. “I’ll go to the magistrate to find another solicitor. You’ll be disbarred for your behavior today.”

He huffed. “It’ll be my word against yours and I have your letter where you suggested it in the first place. I’ll simply say that I had no intention of acting on your disgusting proposal.”

“Give me the documents that you’ve compiled about my father’s estate. I’ll be taking those with me.”

He grinned at her. “Come back into office and I’ll get them for you.”

She shook her head. “Do you take me for a fool?”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “I could ask the same of you.”

She glared at him. “This isn’t over.”

After opening the door behind her, she ran straight to the train station. She didn’t dare look behind her in case Mister Roth gave chase. It wasn’t until she was sitting in a seat on the train that her hands stopped trembling. The certified check was crumbled up in her right hand.

xxx

She looked up at the clock on the brick wall of Esocer’s train station. She smiled wryly at it. It read 10:30. She’d only left Esocer two hours earlier for a fruitless trip to Owreiki. It was lucky she’d been able to get on an earlier train home. She wouldn’t have enjoyed twiddling her thumbs for five hours at the Owreiki train station.

When she’d read his letter several days before, she’d been surprised how long Mister Roth had believed it would take for her to settle her debts. Now she knew why. He wasn’t expecting a certified check.

Where on earth had he gotten the idea she was going to sleep with him in exchange for him paying down her debts? Had he confused her letters with those of another young woman in similarly desperate straits? Riza still had money from her grandfather’s generous check. Maybe she could help save Mister Roth’s other client.

She would go to the courthouse next week to discuss Mister Roth’s behavior with the magistrate and see if he could help her discharge her father’s debt with the certified check crumpled up at the bottom of her purse.

The walk back home felt longer than usual.

She couldn’t believe how much her father’s solicitor had betrayed her trust. It wouldn’t be pleasant removing him as the executor of her father’s will. It would just become another headache.

She halted at the front gate of her house, staring in bewilderment at the man in the military uniform sitting on her front step. His bowed head rested in his hands.

What was Roy Mustang doing here?

She walked up to him almost certain that she was dreaming. She kicked the piece of crumpled up paper at his shoes as she stopped in front of him and stared down at his dark head.

“Roy? What on earth are you doing here?”

He took a deep breath as if stealing himself and stared up at her. “Riza.”

She searched his dark eyes with concern. The emotions she saw worried her.

“Is something wrong?” she whispered.

With a heavy sigh, he stood up. She saw when he stood that he’d brought a suitcase with him. It had been hidden from her sight at first because of his position on the front step. It wasn’t an overnight bag. It was a suitcase for a long journey.

“I suppose congratulations are in order,” he said bitterly, staring down at her with a dark intense gaze. “I hope you and Peter will be happy together.”

Riza frowned at him. “What on earth are you talking about?”

He leaned over to pick up the crumpled up letter on the ground and smoothed it out. “You’re marrying Peter Schafer. That’s what you said in the letter you left for me on your kitchen table. I’ll get out of your hair now, Miss Hawkeye. I believe the next train to Central City Station arrives at 11:30. In your letter you said that I best be on that train and out of your life forever.”

She snatched the letter from Roy’s hands. “Peter Schafer? Why do I get the feeling he’s been the mastermind behind all of my recent setbacks?”

Roy crossed his arms over his chest. “Didn’t you write that letter?”

She shook her head, skimming the words with mounting fury. “It looks just like my handwriting, but I never wrote this. I had no idea he was such a talented forger.” She ran a hand through her hair, trembling with fury. “It’s unbelievable. He says for you to get onto the 11:30 train. If I hadn’t left Owreiki early like I did, I would never have seen you at all and you would have…”

Roy gripped her upper arm tightly to steady her. “What’s going on Riza?”

She put her hand over his to loosen his vice like grip on her arm. “I don’t understand. Why are you here? How did Peter know that you’d be here …unless he’s been opening my mail. He works at the post office now, it would be easy.”

Roy searched her eyes. “You haven’t received any of my letters?”

She shook her head, her heart pounding with something akin to hope. “No. I haven’t received a thing. I thought…”

“I thought the same,” he said taking her hand in his.

She stared at him in wonder. “And yet you still came to see me.”

“I wasn’t going to give up on you,” he whispered fiercely.

She could feel her heart beating out of her chest. “Why?”

“You’ve been on my mind since the day I left,” he said simply.

He picked up his suitcase in one hand as he let her drag him inside the house. As soon as he dropped the suitcase beside the door, she grabbed the lapels of his military jacket and kissed him. He returned the kiss with equal fervor. She moaned into his mouth as he pressed her up against the door.

“I’ve missed this,” he murmured between kisses.

She shivered as he slipped her suit jacket down her arms and tossed it behind him. He tugged her blouse out of her skirt and then tore her blouse open. She gasped as the buttons skidded across the front hall.


End file.
